Abbie Teasdale (England Golf Photo)
Abbie Teasdale of Australia edged Nellie Ong of England on the 4th play-off hole to win the English Women’s Open Stroke Play Championship at Manchester Golf Club. The 17-year-old Ong led by three shots going into the final round, and in a drama-filled day, the lead switched hands a number of times, following a four-under front-nine from Teasdale and five birdies from Ong.
Nellie birdied No. 15, but a double-bogey by Ong on No. 16 gave Teasdale the lead. However, a bogey on the last hole from Teasdale forced a playoff.
With over 100 spectators following, and many cheering on Teasdale at her home course in England, it looked as if Ong was going to seal victory on the 1st play-off hole as she had a seven-foot putt for the win. However, she left it short.
Ong then hit the bunker off the tee on the par-5 No. 2, but a shot to a couple of feet put pressure on Teasdale. She then sunk a 10-footer for birdie to halve the hole and take it down the 17th, where pars again meant that as the darkness crept in, they would go down No. 18.
Ong's wayward tee shot left her a tough shot out of the rough, and despite a great 15-foot putt, it narrowly missed to open the door for Teasdale, who calmly rolled in a three-footer for her second victory of the summer, after picking up the English Women’s Under 25 Championship at Woburn in July.
Megan Dennis of England fired five birdies in a stellar final round to catapult her to 3rd place overall, just two shots back. Jessica Hall finished in solo fourth after two steady rounds of 2-under on the final day.
Esme Hamilton of England produced six birdies in her final round to help her to a 5th-place finish, while Switzerland’s Romaine Masserey and Nicola Slater played some steady golf to finish 6th and 7th, respectively.
West Kent’s Ellie Burdis shot a final round 4-under, including four birdies in six holes to move to finish in solo eighth place.
In the first 18 holes of the day, Teasdale stormed into a two-shot lead as she landed four birdies on the front nine, but a stumble on No. 10 saw her slip down the board. A steady Ong navigated the tricky final few holes to birdie the 18th and hold a three-shot lead going into the afternoon’s 18.
Jess Hall was four-under through 14 and mounting a charge, but two bogeys saw her slip at the end, while Esme Hamilton’s 1-under saw her T3 at the halfway stage.
Megan Ashley of Scotland birdied five of seven holes through holes No. 6-12 as she produced an impressive 2-under for the morning, while five birdies from Nicola Slater were canceled out after a tough back-nine.
Aideen Walsh of Ireland birdied five of the six par-5s to finish with a round of 4-under, while Clodagh Coughlan of Ireland was five-under through No. 16 before a triple-bogey and bogey prevented her from sitting in the top-five.
Madeleine Smith shot six birdies in her morning round to finish 2-under, while Alice Barlow produced one of the rounds of the afternoon with 4-under.
ABOUT THE English Women's Open Amateur
A maximum of 144 players will contest this 72-hole
stroke play championship.
The full field will play 18 holes on each of the first
two days. Then the leading 40 competitors and ties
will play the final 36 holes on the third day.
The winner will return the lowest gross score over
72
holes.
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